The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1887-01-14
RAILROADlNG IN INDIA.

Railway travel IN Ihuia 10 iouS'"
novelty, even to the hsbitdai American
traveller. Of course the cars are car
riares. the conductors are guards. en-
,oineers are drivers, and freight cars are
foods vans, just as in England and on
the Continent; but the trains look very
different from those 10 Europe. A train
.is made up of twelve, fifteen or eignteen
coaches, not half as long as the American
coach. There are 6rst-class. second,
third and fourth.class coaches on train
Sometimes they are graded tirst, second,
intermediate and third. There Is little
difference between first and second class
carriages, except, perhaps, that the cush'
ions are brown in one and black in the
other, or vice versa. Sometimes the
second. class coaches are made more COM
Portable by means of cane seats. The
proverb that only Americans, Princes
and fools travel iirst.elass holds IN India,
as we'll as on the Continent. The third
and fourth class coaches are plain box
cars. with wooden seats arranged later
ally or no seats at all. The natives pre-
fer no seats, and squat in the seat even
when 1t is there. A train usually car
ries 500 or 600 natives, and perhaps a
tenth as many Europeans There are no
sleeping cars, but first and second class
coaches are provided with padded shelves
which let down from the roof. These
and the regular cushioned seats are ar
ranged in hollow square around the
compartment, so that each seat aud shelf
may be used as couch. Travellers carry
their own pillows, blankets and sheets.
Pullman sleepers can never be introduced
an the tropics unless their structure ID
radically changed. These carriages are
provided with double roofs, as a precau-
tion against the heat, and frequently
with blue glass windows to soften the
light within. You are locked into your
carriage and your ticket is collected at
the conductors pleasure. Sometimes
there is an electric button, so that you
can communicate with the train men in
case OF distress. The American gets Wild
because of the dearth of ice water in
public places in India as well as through.
out Europe and England. We are the
only people that have come to due
appreciation OF the dignity OF water as a
beverage. Whenever the train stops at
an Indian station native water.carrier
or bhistic runs alongside OF the compart-
ments. offering an apology for the aque.
ons liquor in leather bag fastened
over his shoulder. The natives
partske freely of this mixture, but
foreigners rarely do, on account of their
dread of cholera. The bhistic is in the
service of the railway company, but usu.
ally expects backsheesh from the trav-
eler. The gauges of railway in India
vary all the way from two feet to five
and half. The main lines from Bombay
to Calcutta are double-tracked, and are
over five feet in width. All the railways
are characterized by the massive solidity
of which the English are SO fond. Where
we would have a light, graceful bridge
they havea colossal structure. The road
beds are superbly kept, and all the latest
railway appliances are in vogue. The
telegraph poles are iron, the ties and
sleepers iron in many cases, and back of
the cactus hedges which inclose the track
are fine barbed wire fences. The use of
iron is necessitated by the ravages of
ants. In many parts of Iudia it is hardly